Eeloscope—Towards a Novel Endoscopic System Enabling Digital Aircraft Fuel Tank Maintenance

Abstract

In this research article, a novel endoscopic system, which is suited to perform a digitalinspection of the aircraft wing fuel tanks, is introduced. The aim of this work is to specificallydesign and develop an assisting system, called Eeloscope, to allow accessing and diving throughan aircraft kerosene tank in a minimally invasive matter. Currently, mechanics often suffer fromthe harsh working environment and the arduous maintenance duties within the tank. To addresssuch challenges and derive a tailored solution, an adapted Design Thinking (DT) process is applied.The resulting system enables a fully digital inspection and generation of 3-dimensional structuralinspection data. Consequently, devices such as the Eeloscope will facilitate a more efficient andcontinuous inspection of fuel tanks to increase the transparency regarding the condition of hardlyaccessible aircraft structures and provide a work relief for mechanics at the same time.